I'm a Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London, a writer here and there on this and that and strangely, one of the global experts on the metal scandium, one of the rare earths. An odd thing to be but someone does have to be such and in this flavour of our universe I am. I have written for The Times, Daily Telegraph, Express, Independent, City AM, Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer and online for the ASI, IEA, Social Affairs Unit, Spectator, The Guardian, The Register and Techcentralstation. I've also ghosted pieces for several UK politicians in many of the UK papers, including the Daily Sport.

So we’ve had the news that workers at Foxconn stormed off the production line for Apple‘s iPhone 5. Well, some did in a dispute with the quality control managers: or according to another version the quality control managers stormed off in a huff. For a couple of hours.

We’ve also got the news of various customers Stateside being unhappy with scratches and marks on their new shiny Apple iPhone 5. At which point it’s possible to link the stories together with this little detail about the phone’s design:

The clash between quality and quantity in iPhone 5 output is felt acutely at Foxconn Technology Co., a smaller unit of Terry Gou’s manufacturing empire and the major producer of the housings made out of what Apple calls “anodized 6000 series aluminum,” the same material used in its notebooks.

Anodizing involves dipping the aluminum into a bath of chemicals and running an electric current through it, which helps to protect the metal against corrosion and makes it easier to adhere color. Scratches on the iPhone 5 are more noticeable because of the contrast between the outer color and underlying metal. The glass casing of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S made it less prone to scratches, though it was susceptible to cracks.

“It’s a trade-off because aluminum is strong and tougher to break, and it’s light and more economical, yet it is also easier to scratch,” said Jacob Huang, a professor of materials engineering at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. “You could use magnesium, which is lighter, but even softer and easier to scratch, or glass which is heavier but harder yet more brittle.”

There are, in theory, two ways you could do this anodising. The first is to treat the semi-finished parts. Before you have drilled the holes for the screws for example. The second is to do that aftwerwards. Obviously, you’re going to get more scratches if you do it the first rather than the second way. But that’s not all: even if you do it the second way there are inevitably going to be scratches from the hand assembly of the finished item. Tiny screws do not necessarily go straight into the correct hole first time after all.

But as Professor Huang points out, it’s just another one of those design tradeoffs that has to be made. This time they decided to go with the aluminium for the weight but are left with this problem of the scratches.

What is going to be fun is to see what happens to that anodised coating over time. Either high or low ph environments will strip the anodising (what is effectively a layer of aluminium oxide) from the underlying metal. The effect could be distinctly less trivial than an occasional scratch as well. What I’m not sure of is whether human sweat (at 4.5 to 5.5 ph, mildly acidic) is going to be sufficient to do this to any great extent. Something to look out for I guess, see if the complaints start up after a couple of months of people holding them in their hot and sweaty little hands.

The other point is that anodising usually fails if something goes over 80 oC. The oxide layer and the underlying metal expand at different rates and at or above 80 oC you’ll end up with cracks through that anodised layer: including, obviously, any colouring of it. I wouldn’t have thought this will be too much of a problem for not many people expose delicate electronics to that sort of temperature. But again, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

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iPhone 5 is a fail in every way possible. Why would anyone in their right mind want a poorly engineered phone and a terrible iOS 6 that can’t be reversed? At some point dull consumers will wake up to this nonsense and hold Apple accountable.

Apple is selling tens of millions of iPhone 5s so whatever a few iHaters think doesn’t carry much weight at all. All this aluminum FUD is entirely overblown. The first iPhone had an aluminum back and it turned out just fine. Only a few crybabies are going be upset over a few scratches that don’t affect the working of the iPhone 5 at all. There are always trade-offs when building devices. Weight, durability, cosmetic looks, etc. Apple had to make a choice and they chose aluminum with anodizing. They’ll have to live with that choice for at least a year.

When I worked in a machine shop we routinely gold-anodized all aluminum parts for the Navy for corrosion resistance but they weren’t parts you’d put in your pocket or hold in your hands, either. Maybe Apple needs to do some fine-tuning with their process to achieve expected perfection, but I’m not sure they can satisfy the crybabies who’d probably prefer plastic cases.

Anodising is a common coating practice with aluminum and I have used it for many years on some of my Company’s products. Since the iPhone5 will in most cases slide inside a customer’s hardened casing anyway to protect it from dropping it, a few fine scratches wouldn’t matter much anyway. I’ve had my iPhone4 inside a protective case for 2 years now and do not make a practice of sliding it out of the case to admire its backside. Apple simply needs to refine the process to reduce the chances or amount of any scratches but in reality, it’s insignificant. It is the customer’s perception of receiving a brand new product from Apple and seeing the scrathes that hurts their “perception” of the quality but it is a by-product of the aluminum casing choice. It will be interesting to see how Apple deals with this industry materials issue.

Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha …. What CrApple Hack Media Bullchit! CrApple is a lying Greedy company and the PUBLIC has finally caught on and now it is blowing up in their face.

They PROMISED raises to those Sweatshop Workers through their PARTNER Foxxconn and they reneged, they promised improved working conditions and they reneged (LIED). CrApple is a Slimmy Limousine Liberal Run Company and just like their politician (D) counter-parts, THEY LIE.

This fool obviously has no brains and is clueless to what’s really going on. Just a clue but Apple has done more than any other Company to advance Chinese worker conditions. Foxconn builds for many many other Companies besides Apple but they keep quiet letting Apple take the spotlight. The guy on top and well deserved gets all the criticism including from this obvious idiot that failed to own the stock or only lives off welfare. Watch what happens next. Apple is just beginning to rise despite all the current negative B.S..